The University of Florida Health Science Center - the most comprehensive academic health center in the Southeast - is dedicated to high-quality programs of education, research, patient care and public service.

The UF College of Dentistry is the only public-funded dental school in Florida and is recognized as one of the top U.S. dental schools for the quality of its educational programs, oral health research enterprise and commitment to patient care and service.

The College of Medicine, the largest of six colleges at the University of Florida Health Science Center, opened in 1956 with a mission to increase Florida's supply of highly qualified physicians, provide advanced health-care services to Florida residents and foster discovery in health research.

Founded in 1956, the University of Florida College of Nursing is the premier educational institution for nursing in the state of Florida and is ranked in the top 10 percent of all nursing graduate programs nationwide. The UF College of Nursing continually attracts and retains the highest caliber of nursing students and faculty with a passion for science and caring.

Established in 1923, the College of Pharmacy is the oldest college in the UF Health Science Center. Ranked among the top schools of pharmacy nationally, the college supports research, service and educational programs enhanced with online technologies.

The UF College of Veterinary Medicine is Florida's only veterinary college and provides many unique educational programs for students and services aimed at helping pets, wildlife and endangered species. We offer a a four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Veterinary Medical Sciences.

Co-located with the Shands Jacksonville Hospital, the Jacksonville Health Science Center excels in education, research and patient care that expresses our abiding values of compassion, excellence, professionalism and innovation. Our state-of-the-art medical center serves an urban population of 1 million from north Florida to south Georgia.

The UFCOM-J offers accredited graduate medical education residency and fellowship programs, in addition to non-standard fellowship programs. Clinical rotations in all the major disciplines are provided for UFCOM undergraduate medical students and elective rotations to students from other accredited schools.

The UFHSC-J is a clinical teaching site for the Gainesville-based College of Nursing. Students rotate through the various clinical settings on the campus, and primary care centers and specialty care centers located throughout Jacksonville.

The UF College of Pharmacy-Jacksonville offers a four-year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) Program completed entirely in Jacksonville. Also offered on campus is an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists-accredited pharmacy residency program at Shands Jacksonville.

University of Florida Health knows how important ongoing medical learning is to health care providers and the community. That is why we provide online Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses for you to complete for CME credits. These courses share the latest in medical knowledge, teach new patient-relationship skills and help providers deal with relevant current issues.

About William Shands

William Augustine Shands

Florida Senator William Augustine Shands was born on July 21, 1889. His family moved to Gainesville in 1901. Shands and his brothers attended the University of Florida in the early 1900s when Gainesville was just sand roads and a few buildings.

As a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity, he played baseball and football for the university during a time when barely 200 people attended football games.

He left school without graduating, which is something he regretted, and went into the fertilizer business in Gainesville. After marrying Kathryn Hawkins in 1912 and moving to Alabama, he soon faced the tribulations of the Great Depression. Doing anything he could to make ends meet, Shands eventually returned to Gainesville, where in 1928 he created the Gainesville Poster-Advertising Company. This became his stepping stone into Gainesville politics.

As a prominent member of the business community, Shands ran for City Council. He joined the Committee Charter Commission and was appointed a member of the Road Board in 1929. These experiences led him to return to school to study law to help further his business and political aspirations.

After being elected a Florida Senator, he dedicated his efforts to enhancing the Gainesville community by building a teaching hospital. Though initially he needed convincing that such a hospital in a small university community would be more beneficial than one in a metropolitan area, he began to diligently rally support for a teaching hospital in Gainesville rather than in cities like Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville.

Shands described UF as the center of Gainesville and believed that UF's success stemmed from the unified support it received from being located in a small community. The UF colleges of Medicine and Nursing opened in 1956. The UF Teaching Hospital opened its doors on October 20, 1958. In 1965 it was renamed in Shands' honor as W. A. Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics.